Tampon with recessed portions having multiple widths

ABSTRACT

A tampon for feminine hygiene that has an insertion end, a withdrawal end, a longitudinal axis, and an outer surface. The tampon is made of compressed fibrous material. The outer surface of the tampon includes a plurality of recessed portions. Each of the recessed portions includes a first width dimension x and a second width dimension y. The first width dimension x is greater than the second width dimension y.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a tampon comprising recessed portions with afirst width dimension that is greater than the second width dimension.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of absorbent catamenial tampons have long been known inthe art. It is known that the surface characteristics of a tampon may bealtered physically and/or chemically to confer both aesthetic andfunctional benefits. The surface of tampons can be altered to havenon-uniform surface topography. Some examples of tampons withnon-uniform topography include a tampon that has absorbent filamentssuch as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,270 issued to Dostal on Oct. 3, 1972, anda tampon with a braided or rope shaped body such as in U.S. Pat. No.4,361,151 issued to Fitzgerald on Nov. 20, 1982 and U.S. Pat. No.4,328,804 issued to Shimatani on May 11, 1982. Other tampons compriselongitudinal ribs on the outer surface such as in U.S. Pat. No.5,403,300 issued to Howarth on Apr. 4, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,725issued to Brinker on Jan. 14, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,675 issuedto Leijd on Feb. 17, 1998 and a tampon having spiral grooves on theouter surface such as in WO 02/078586 published on Oct. 10, 2002. Whileit has been found that these tampons perform their intended functiontolerably well, even the best of them do not always imbibe menstrualfluid at a rate sufficient to provide good coverage against leakage. Thepresent invention has been designed to achieve these goals while alsoproviding an aesthetically pleasing exterior appearance for the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tampon for feminine hygienecomprising an insertion end, a withdrawal end, a longitudinal axis, andan outer surface. The tampon is comprised of compressed fibrousmaterial. The outer surface of the tampon comprises a plurality ofrecessed portions. Each of the recessed portions comprises a first widthdimension x and a second width dimension y. The first width dimension xis greater than the second width dimension y.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the tampon of the present invention having aplurality of recessed portions.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tampon of the present invention having aplurality of recessed portions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used herein “applicator” refers to a device or implement thatfacilitates the insertion of a tampon, medicament, treatment device,visualization aid, or other into an external orifice of a mammal, suchas the vagina, rectum, ear canal, nasal canal, or throat. Non-limitingspecific examples of such include any known hygienically designedapplicator that is capable of receiving a tampon may be used forinsertion of a tampon, including the so-called telescoping, tube andplunger, and the compact applicators, an applicator for providingmedicament to an area for prophylaxis or treatment of disease, aspectroscope containing a microcamera in the tip connected via fiberoptics, a speculum of any design, a tongue depressor, a tube forexamining the ear canal, a narrow hollow pipe for guiding surgicalinstruments, and the like.

As used herein, the term “bicomponent fibers” refers to fibers that havebeen formed from at least two different polymers extruded from separateextruders but spun together to form one fiber. Bicomponent fibers arealso sometimes referred to as conjugate fibers or multicomponent fibers.The polymers are arranged in substantially constantly positioneddistinct zones across the cross-section of the bicomponent fibers andextend continuously along the length of the bicomponent fibers. Theconfiguration of such a bicomponent fiber may be, for example, asheath/core arrangement wherein one polymer is surrounded by another ormay be a side-by-side arrangement, a pie arrangement or an“islands-in-the-sea” arrangement.

As used herein, “compression” refers to the process of pressing,squeezing, compacting or otherwise manipulating the size, shape, and/orvolume of a material to obtain a tampon having a vaginally insertableshape. The term “compressed” refers to the state of a material ormaterials subsequent to compression. Conversely, the term “uncompressed”refers to the state of a material or materials prior to compression. Theterm “compressible” is the ability of a material to undergo compression.

The term “cross-section” as used herein, is any 5 mm thick section ofthe tampon orthogonal to the longitudinal axis.

As used herein, the term “density” is used with its common technicalmeaning with units of g/cm³ or g/cc. The density may refer specificallyto that of a specific region or feature of the tampon as noted. Thedensity will be measured, unless otherwise noted, by taking the weightdivided by the geometric volume described by the shape. Unless noted,density refers to that of the overall structure and not the individualcomponents, and will include in the measurement void volume of smallpores and voids within the overall structure.

The term “digital tampon” refers to a tampon which is intended to beinserted into the vaginal canal with the user's finger and without theaid of an applicator. Thus, digital tampons are typically visible to theconsumer prior to use rather than being housed in an applicator.

The term “folded” as used herein, is the configuration of the tamponpledget that may be incidental to lateral compaction of the absorbentmaterial or may purposely occur prior to a compression step. Such aconfiguration is readily recognizable, for example, when the absorbentmaterial abruptly changes direction such that one part of the absorbentmaterial bends and lies over another part of the absorbent material.

As used herein, “generally cylindrical” refers to the usual shape oftampons as is well known in the art, but which also includes oblate orpartially flattened cylinders, curved cylinders, and shapes which havevarying cross-sectional areas (such as a Coke™ bottle shape). Thelongitudinal axis refers to the longest linear dimension of the tampon.The cross-section refers to a slice taken at right angles to thelongitudinal axis.

The term “joined” or “attached,” as used herein, encompassesconfigurations in which a first element is directly secured to a secondelement by affixing the first element directly to the second element;configurations in which the first element is indirectly secured to thesecond element by affixing the first element to intermediate member(s)which in turn are affixed to the second element; and configurations inwhich the first element is integral with the second element; i.e., thefirst element is essentially part of the second element.

As used herein, the term “longitudinal axis” of a tampon refers to theaxis that runs through the center of the tampon as shown in FIG. 1. Aportion of the tampon may be asymmetric about the longitudinal axis,such as when the withdrawal end region is flared and distorted from theoriginal shape of the rest of the tampon (such as a “fin shape”).Further, the longitudinal axis may be linear or non-linear.

The “outer surface” of a tampon refers to the visible surface of the(compressed and/or shaped) tampon prior to use and/or expansion. Atleast part of the outer surface may be smooth or alternatively may havetopographic features, such as ribs, spiraling ribs, a mesh pattern, orother topographical features. Typically, tampons are constructed from anabsorbent material, which has been compressed and/or shaped in any orall of the width direction, the radial direction, and the axialdirection, in order to provide a tampon which is of a size and stabilityto allow insertion within the vagina or other body cavity.

As used herein, the terms “pledget” or “tampon pledget” are intended tobe interchangeable and refer to a construction of absorbent materialprior to the compression and/or shaping of such construction into atampon as described above. Pledgets may be rolled, folded or otherwisemanipulated prior to compression. Tampon pledgets are sometimes referredto as tampon blanks, or a softwinds, and the term “pledget” is intendedto include such terms as well. In general in this specification, theterm “tampon” is used to refer to a finished tampon after thecompression and/or shaping process. It will be recognized by those ofskill in the art that in some contexts these terms are interchangeable.The different stages of tampon manufacture are described herein with aneye toward providing the greatest possible clarity. Therefore, the termsused are to assist the reader in best understanding the features of theinvention and not to introduce limitations in the terms not consistentwith the context in which they are used in this specification.

As used herein, the term “radial axis” of a tampon refers to the axisthat runs at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tampon asshown in FIG. 1.

The term “rolled,” as used herein, is the configuration of the tamponpledget after winding the absorbent material upon itself.

As used herein, a tampon has a “self-sustaining shape” when a tamponpledget has been compressed and/or shaped such that it assumes a generalshape and size, which is vaginally insertable, absent external forces.It will be understood by one of skill in the art that thisself-sustaining shape need not, and preferably does not persist duringactual use of the tampon. That is, once the tampon is inserted andbegins to acquire fluid, the tampon may begin to expand and may lose itsself-sustaining form.

As used herein, the term “tampon,” refers to any type of absorbentstructure that is inserted into the vaginal canal or other body cavitiesfor the absorption of fluid therefrom, to aid in wound healing, or forthe delivery of active materials, such as medicaments, or moisture. Thetampon may be compressed into a generally cylindrical configuration inthe radial direction, axially along the longitudinal axis or in both theradial and axial directions. While the tampon may be compressed into asubstantially cylindrical configuration, other shapes are possible.These may include shapes having a cross section that may be described asrectangular, triangular, trapezoidal, semi-circular, hourglass,serpentine, or other suitable shapes. Tampons have an insertion end,withdrawal end, a length, a width, a longitudinal axis, a radial axisand an outer surface. The tampon's length can be measured from theinsertion end to the withdrawal end along the longitudinal axis. Atypical compressed tampon for human use is 30-60 mm in length. A tamponmay be straight or non-linear in shape, such as curved along thelongitudinal axis. A typical compressed tampon is 8-20 mm wide. Thewidth of a tampon, unless otherwise stated in the specification,corresponds to the length across the largest cylindrical cross-section,along the length of the tampon.

The term “vaginal cavity,” “within the vagina,” and “vaginal interior,”as used herein, are intended to be synonymous and refer to the internalgenitalia of the mammalian female in the pudendal region of the body.The term “vaginal cavity” as used herein is intended to refer to thespace located between the introitus of the vagina (sometimes referred toas the sphincter of the vagina or hymeneal ring,) and the cervix. Theterms “vaginal cavity,” “within the vagina” and “vaginal interior,” donot include the interlabial space, the floor of vestibule or theexternally visible genitalia.

FIG. 1 shows a tampon 20 of the present invention. The tampon 20 can beany shape in the art and any type of tampon known in the art. FIG. 1shows a shaped tampon, such as that disclosed in currently pending andcommonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/150,050, filedMar. 18, 2002, entitled “Substantially Serpentine Shaped Tampon,” toRandall, et al., and currently pending and commonly assigned, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/150,055, filed Mar. 18, 2002, entitled“Shaped Tampon,” to Kollowitz, et al. FIG. 1 illustrates a tampon forfeminine hygiene, having an outer surface 22, an insertion end 24, awithdrawal end 26, a radial axis R, and a longitudinal axis L. Thefibrous material of the tampon 20 of the present invention may haveuniform density over a cross section of the tampon 20. Alternatively,fibrous material of the tampon 20 of the present invention may havevarying density over a cross section of the tampon 20. A tampon 20having varying densities is described in greater detail in currentlypending and commonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/700,776 filed Nov. 4, 2003, entitled “Substantially Serpentine ShapedTampon with Varying Density Regions”, to Almond and currently pendingand commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/700,775 filedNov. 4, 2003, entitled “Substantially Serpentine Shaped Tampon withVarying Density Regions”, to Almond.

The outer surface 22 of the tampon 20 may comprise a plurality ofrecessed portions 28 such as in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The recessed portions28 on the outer surface 22 of the tampon 20 may project generallyinwardly from the outer surface 22, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG.1 and FIG. 2 show that each of the recessed portions 28 comprise a firstwidth dimension x and a second width dimension y; wherein the firstwidth dimension x is greater than the second width dimension y. Thetampon 20 may have an insertion end 24 comprising the first widthdimension x. The tampon 20 may have an insertion end 24 comprising thesecond width dimension y. The tampon 20 may recessed portions 28 arearranged in a pattern. The tampon 20 may have recessed portions 28 thatare parallel with the longitudinal axis L. Not to be bound by theory, itis believed that the topographic feature of the present inventionincreases greater surface area of the tampon allowing for improved fluidimbibition, thus, providing improved coverage against leakage.

The widths of the recessed portions 28 may have a continuous transitionbetween the first width dimension x and the second width dimension y,such as in FIG. 1. The widths of the recessed portions 28 may have astepped transition between the first width dimension x and the secondwidth dimension y, such as in FIG. 2. The recessed portions 28 may havemultiple widths along their length. The recessed portions may havemultiple sets of width dimensions in the different regions of the tampon20, such as in FIG. 1 where the insertion end 24 comprises the firstwidth dimension x and a second width dimension y and the withdrawal end26 comprises a first width dimension x¹ and a second width dimension y¹.The first width dimension x may greater than the second width dimensiony and the second dimension y¹. As well, the first width dimension x maybe the same or different than the first width dimension x¹.Alternatively, the recessed portion 28 may have the first widthdimension x and the second width dimension y in the same region of thetampon 20, such as in FIG. 2 where the insertion end 24 comprises thefirst width dimension x and the second width dimension y.

The plurality of recessed portions 28 may be any shape known includeamorphous, geometric, or a combination thereof. The recessed portions 28may be symmetric or asymmetric. The recessed portions 28 may be any beany two or three-dimensional geometric shape known including but notlimited to ovals, circles, rectangles, trapezoids, triangles, cones,squares, spirally shaped, rectangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons,hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons, decagons, parallelograms,rhombuses, trapeziums, alphanumerics, animal shapes, trademarks, logos,foreign languages, kanji, ASCII, and mixtures thereof. The recessedportions 28 on the outer surface 22 of the tampon 20 may be arrangedrandomly or in a pattern. The pattern of recessed portions 28 on theouter surface 22 of the tampon 20 may be diagonal lines, straight lines,checkerboard and mixtures thereof. The recessed portions on the outersurface 22 of the tampon 20 may be evenly spaced or unevenly spaced. Therecessed portions 28 have a maximum width W as measured adjacent to theouter surface 22 of from about 0.5 mm to about 6 mm. The recessedportions 28 may also have amplitude as measured orthogonal to the outersurface 22 of from about 0.5 mm to about 6 mm.

Tampon pledget may be constructed from a wide variety ofliquid-absorbing materials commonly used in absorbent articles. Suchmaterials include but are not limited to rayon (such as GALAXY RayonSARILLE L rayon both available from Acordis Fibers Ltd., of Hollywall,England), cotton, bicomponent fibers, polyethylene, polypropylene, othersuitable natural or synthetic fibers known in the art, and mixturesthereof. Other materials that may be incorporated into the tamponpledget including comnninuted wood pulp which is generally referred toas airfelt, folded tissues, woven materials, nonwoven webs, peat moss,absorbent foams (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,298issued to DesMarais on Nov. 30, 1976 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,921 issuedto Dyer, et al.,) capillary channel fibers (such as those disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 5,356,405 issued to Thompson, et. al on Oct. 18, 1994),high capacity fibers (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,766issued Kaczmarzk, et al. on Aug. 30, 1977), superabsorbent polymers orabsorbent gelling materials (such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,830,543 issued to Miyake, et al. on Nov. 3, 1998).

The tampon pledget is generally square or rectangular, but other shapessuch as trapezoidal, triangular, hemispherical, chevron and hourglassshaped are also acceptable. A more detailed description ofliquid-absorbing materials and pledget shapes and dimensions can befound in currently pending and commonly assigned, U.S. patent Ser. No.10/039,979, filed Oct. 24, 2001, entitled “Improved Protection andComfort Tampon,” to Agyapong, et al. A typical size for tampon pledgetprior to compression may be from about 40 mm to about 100 mm in lengthand from about 40 mm to about 80 mm in width. In general, the pledgetmaterial may be from about 40 mm to about 60 mm in length and from about50 mm to about 70 mm in width. The typical range for the overall basisweight is from about 150 g/m² to about 800 g/m². The tampon pledgetmaterial may be a laminar structure comprised of integral or discretelayers. Alternatively, the tampon pledget may not have a layeredstructure at all. The tampon pledget may have or uniform density or inthe alternative may have portions that are more or less dense than otherportions, such as a core, which is highly compressed.

The tampon 20 of the present invention may optionally comprise anoverwrap comprising material such as rayon, cotton, bicomponent fibers,polyethylene, polypropylene, other suitable natural or synthetic fibersknown in the art, and mixtures thereof. The tampon 20 may have anonwoven overwrap comprised of bicomponent fibers that have apolypropylene core surrounded by polyethylene manufactured byVliesstoffwerke Christian Heinrich Sandler GmbH & Co.KG(Schwarzenbach/Saale, Germany) under the tradename SAS B31812000. Thetampon 20 may comprise a nonwoven overwrap of a hydroentangled blend of50% rayon, 50% polyester available as BBA 140027 produced by BBACorporation of South Carolina, U.S. The overwrap may be 100% polyester.The overwrap may be treated to be hydrophilic, hydrophobic, wicking ornon-wicking. The tampon pledget may also contain a variety of otheradjuvants such as odor control agents, antibacterial agents, colorants,indicators for various kinds of illnesses such as yeast infections,indicator features for signaling when the tampon should be changed, andthe like.

The tampon of the present invention may comprise a secondary absorbentmember. The secondary absorbent member may be comprised of material suchas rayon, cotton, bicomponent fibers, polyethylene, polypropylene,polyester, other suitable natural or synthetic fibers known in the art,and mixtures thereof. The secondary absorbent member may be single plyor multiple plies. The secondary absorbent member may be absorbentand/or hydrophilic. The secondary absorbent member 30 may be attached tothe second end 38 of the tampon pledget, such that after folding andcompression, the secondary absorbent member 30 is attached to thewithdrawal end 26 end of the tampon 20. The secondary absorbent member30 may be arranged in a wide variety of shapes and configurations andmay be generally cylindrical, spherical, semi-spherical, disc-like,planar, rectangular, “sheet-like,” “skirt-like” in shape. The secondaryabsorbent member 30 may range in length from about 10 mm to about 40 mmfrom the withdrawal end 26 of the tampon 20. The secondary absorbentmember 30 may be from about 20 mm to about 25 mm in length, from about 6mm to about 40 mm in width, and from about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm inthickness.

Withdrawal members 32 useful in the present invention may be made of anysuitable material known in the prior art and include cotton and rayon.In addition, the withdrawal member 32 can take on other forms such as aribbon, loop, tab, or the like. The withdrawal member 32 may be integralwith the tampon pledget. The withdrawal member 32 or regions of thewithdrawal member 32 may be treated to be non-absorbent, absorbent orhydrophilic. The withdrawal member 32 may be attached in any suitablemanner known in the art including sewing, adhesive attachment, bonding,thermal bonding, or a combination thereof including the method disclosedin currently pending, commonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/610,075, filed Jun. 30, 2003, entitled “Method and Apparatus forCord Attachment” to Sargent, et al.

The tampon 20 of the present invention may be inserted digitally. It maybe desirable to provide a finger indent at the withdrawal end 26 of thetampon 20 to aid in insertion, if the tampons 20 are to be digitaltampons. An example of a finger indent can be found in U.S. Pat. No.6,283,952, filed May 5, 1997, entitled “Shaped Tampon,” issued to Child,et al.

Alternatively, the insertion may be aided through the use of anyapplicator adapted from the prior art. Prior art applicators having atypical “tube and plunger” type arrangement may be plastic, paper, orother suitable material. Additionally, a “compact” type applicator isalso suitable. Where the tampon 20 of the present invention is shapedand provides aesthetic appeal to consumers, it is may be desirable tocombine the shaped tampon with an applicator type which enables the userto observe at least a portion or the whole shape of the shaped tampon20. Two techniques which allow the user to better notice the shape ofthe tampon 20 are to either make visual observation possible through theuse of a translucent or even transparent applicator materials, or toprovide a tampon applicator insertion end that better follows and hencebetter displays the profiled shape of the enclosed shaped tampon thanthe typical commercial tampon applicators comprising straight-walledcylindrical inserter tubes often made from molded plastic or laminatedcardboard tubes. These techniques may be found in currently pending andcommonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/150,055, filedMar. 18, 2002, entitled “Shaped Tampon,” to Kollowitz, et al.

The tampons 20 of the present invention can optionally be packaged inwrappers which are loose, conforming, tightly conforming and mixturesthereof to the outer surface 22 of the tampon 20 in order to visuallyshow the consumer the tampon packaged therein. Tightly conformingwrappers are particularly useful when the shaped tampons are intended tobe used digitally and therefore are not housed in an applicator prior touse. The wrappers should substantially enclose each individual tampon 20and are removed prior to insertion and use. “Tightly conforming,” meansthat there is substantially no visually noticeable void space betweenthe wrapper and the tampon 20. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, some regions of the wrapper material may provide additionalfunctional benefits, such as cord deployment means. Since tampons 20 aretypically made by compressing fibrous absorbent material into aself-sustaining shape, the tightly conforming wrapper can optionally beused to act with a certain compressing force on the outer surface 22 ofthe tampon 20, which will aid in maintaining the self-sustaining shapeby counteracting the expansion of the compressed material. Such wrappersare discussed in detail currently pending and commonly assigned, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/150,055, filed Mar. 18, 2002, entitled“Shaped Tampon,” to Kollowitz.

While several methods of making the tampon 20 of the present inventionshould be apparent to one of skill in the art in light of the disclosureherein, following is a description of one method of making a tampon 20of the present invention.

The tampon 20 of the present invention is made by providing the materialthat comprises the tampon pledget, withdrawal member 32, attaching orjoining these components, folding the components and compressing. Inmaking the tampon 20 of the present invention, the tampon pledget isprovided. Next, the withdrawal member 32 is provided. The withdrawalmember 32 may be attached in any suitable manner known in the artincluding sewing, adhesive attachment, bonding, thermal bonding, or acombination thereof, including the method disclosed in currentlypending, commonly assigned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/610,075,filed Jun. 30, 2003, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Cord Attachment”to Sargent, et al.

Next, the combination of the tampon pledget, secondary absorbent member30 and withdrawal member 32 are folded or rolled. To form a tampon readyfor use, the tampon pledget is typically compressed and heat conditionedin any suitable conventional manner including the method disclosed incurrently pending, commonly assigned, U.S. patent application SerialNo., filed May 12, 2003, entitled “A Process for Producing StabilizedTampons,” to Prosise, et al. Pressures and temperatures suitable forthis purpose are well known in the art. Typically, the tampon pledgetmay be compressed in both the radial and axial direction using any meanswell known in the art. While a variety of techniques are known andacceptable for these purposes, a modified tampon compressor machineavailable from Hauni Machines, Richmond, Va., is suitable. Optionally, afinger indent can be made using a compression rod. An example of afinger indent can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,952, filed May 5,1997, entitled “Shaped Tampon” issued to Child, et al. The secondaryabsorbent member 30 may be attached to the tampon 20 before or aftercompression, and then no modification of the method of making aconventional compressed absorbent tampon is necessary.

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention. It is therefore intended tocover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that arewithin the scope of this invention.

1. A tampon for feminine hygiene comprising an insertion end, awithdrawal end, a longitudinal axis, and an outer surface; said tamponbeing comprised of compressed fibrous material; wherein said outersurface of said tampon comprises a plurality of recessed portions; eachof said recessed portions has a width dimension, wherein the widthdimension varies intermittently as measured along the longitudinal axisof the tampon; each of said recessed portions comprising at theinsertion end of the tampon a first width dimension x and a second widthdimension y; wherein said first width dimension x is greater than saidsecond width dimension y; and each of said recessed portions comprisingat the withdrawal end of the tampon a first width dimension x¹ and asecond width dimension y¹.
 2. The tampon according to claim 1 whereinsaid recessed portions are arranged in a pattern.
 3. The tamponaccording to claim 1 wherein said recessed portions are parallel withsaid longitudinal axis.
 4. The tampon according to claim 1 wherein saidrecessed portions are spirally shaped.
 5. The tampon according to claim1 wherein the fibrous material of said tampon has an essentially uniformdensity over a cross-section of the tampon.
 6. The tampon according toclaim 1 wherein the fibrous material of said tampon has varying densityover a cross-section of the tampon.
 7. The tampon according to claim 1wherein said tampon further comprises a core which is highly compressed.8. The tampon according to claim 1 wherein said withdrawal end furthercomprises a withdrawal member.
 9. The tampon according to claim 1wherein said withdrawal end further comprises a finger indent.